Russian tennis player harassed with abusive messages following loss at WTA 125 event in Porto

It was a day to forget for Russian tennis player Alina Charaeva, who was the recipient of hateful and abusive messages on social media after her loss to compatriot Vitalia Diatchenko at the WTA 125 event in Porto on Thursday.

The 23-year old Charaeva squared off against the veteran Diatchenko, with the latter prevailing with 6-4 4-6 7-6(0) victory. Feeling devastated following the loss, Charaeva had little idea of the harassment that was to follow.

With the round of 16 match over, Charaeva, who was seeded eighth at the WTA 125 event, saw her phone inundated with messages. There were a few messages of support, but the majority of comments were filled with disrespect at Charaeva, with many insulting the Samara native over losing to the unseeded Diatchenko.

The 176th-ranked Charaeva took screenshots of several of these disrespectful messages, and posted them on her Instagram account. Furthermore, she tagged the official WTA and ITF accounts, captioning the screenshots with the tag "When you lose 6-7 in the third set."

Several comments were aimed at Charaeva's integrity, with some claiming the match was rigged. Others took shots at her ability on the court, labeling her as a terrible tennis player.

"You should stay at your local club," read one of the comments.

"Alina is one of the worst players I've ever seen in my life, she'll never be good at tennis," read another comment.

"She clearly gave the match to Vitalia Diatchenko... a shameless sellout... she was unable to hold her serve, it's a rigged match," speculated another user on the social media platform.

Charaeva turned pro in 2018, and has been making a living on the ITF circuit as she battles her way to the main draw of the WTA. The Russian has won six singles and five doubles titles on the ITF Women's circuit.